One of the hottest entries into the ‘it’s terrible but I can’t stop watching’ 2023 category of TV drama was over on Channel 4.
The first season of the frothy swingers drama The Couple Next Door was pretty panned by critics – with a 38% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes – but viewers couldn’t get enough.
In fact, the season became Channel 4’s biggest scripted streaming launch ever, with the first episode garnering more than a million streams in its first week.
Starring Sam Heughan and Eleanor Tomlinson, the six-part run saw a young couple move to the ‘burbs, only to become a bit overly friendly with their neighbours – with dire consequences.
The second season turns the show into an anthology, with only an initial nod to the couples of the first season via a newspaper frontpage, before we meet a new foursome set to swap beds.
The one mainstay, besides the Belgian filming location masking for outer Leeds, is Hugh Dennis’s cul-de-sac creep Alan (although he’s now somewhat reformed, doing community service).
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The new season focuses on the medically inclined power couple of Charlotte (Annabel Scholey) and her husband Jacob (Sam Palladio). She’s a heart surgeon, he’s an anaesthetist.
But when a new nurse Mia (Aggy K Adams) joins their hospital and then decides to rent the vacant house next door to them, their marriage is turned upside down.
A complicated situation is worsened by the return of Charlotte’s handsome and clearly-still-into-her ex Leo (Heroes’ Sendhil Ramamurthy).
Metro’s thoughts on The Couple Next Door season 2
Senior TV Reporter Rebecca Cook shares her take…
If you enjoyed the first season of the swinging Leeds neighbours, you’ll be happy to hear this is more of the same – and perhaps better.
But if you were among the naysayers, probably best to look away now (it’s not improved that considerably).
They’ve done away with some of the yawnsome filler of last season (criminal conspiracy, the strains of local journalism albeit from someone who can afford a humongous house), instead focusing on the character drama with a side of kink.
This erotic entanglement is a touch less silly than the last, largely because of one thing: Annabel Scholey. The Split star elevates what is quite soapy material because she’s just very good at what she does. Even when it’s shooting dangerous looks from under some scrubs.
The mysterious Mia from Norway crashes into the couple’s ‘sex Wednesdays’ routine for scenes that are, yes, still a bit overplayed.
But if you’re coming into this second season from the first, you already know what you’re in for.
Loosely adapted from the Dutch drama Fatal Injections, the first season was billed a cheesy erotic thriller.
Duncan Whittaker wrote on Google reviews that he ‘loved it,’ adding: ‘The ending was such a bonkers bit of fun.’
Jo Austin added: ‘It was all a bit daft but entertaining and enjoyable enough.’
However, not everyone was completely on board with the season (hence the hate watch adjacent reputation) with Helen Johnson labelling it ‘ridiculous!’ before adding: ‘I’ve only seen one episode but I laughed several times (and it’s not a comedy!).’
Not holding back, Dean Skutela added: ‘One of the worst programmes I’ve ever watched. I kept praying for it to get better but it just kept getting worse.’
The Couple Next Door season 2 is available to stream on Channel 4, with episode 1 airing on the channel at 9pm.
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